The former X Factor star broke down in tears as she pleaded guilty to drink-driving after crashing a Ferrari.

The 27-year-old singer admitted being over the limit during the incident outside Southgate Tube station in north London on September 10 last year.

Tulisa’s legal team revealed the star had signed up to work in Hollywood and that a drink-driving conviction will make entry and working in the US difficult for her.

With her hair tied back in a bun, Tulisa arrived at court this morning in a blue trouser suit and towering Louboutin heels, keeping her features hidden behind huge sunglasses as she fought through a pack of photographers.

Inside, the half-hour hearing heard the star was was on the wrong side of the road when she smashed her £200,000 black Ferrari Spyder into a car coming the other way last September.

The ex-N-Dubz singer admitted to police she had had two glasses of wine and told officers she was “sleep-driving” at the time of the crash.

Having signed to a Hollywood agent, the conviction could scupper her chances of working Stateside, her lawyer said.

Kirsty Brimelow QC, defending, said her client had already been “punished” with news of the crash leaking into the Press.

Ms Brimelow said: “She is a talent. She has been signed up by an agent in Hollywood and is due to start an acting career there.

“Everything has been put on hold because of this. She has been unable to work until this is resolved.

“The conviction will cause her difficulties not only entering the US but also working.”

Prosecutor Tarika Jayaratne (CORR) said the pop star was arrested close to her north London home shortly before midnight on September 10 following the crash between her Ferrari and a Saab.

The collision left the passenger in the Saab unable to open her door to get out but the couple involved were unharmed and drove home afterwards.

Tulisa was kept in police custody for 22 hours after tests showed she had 54mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Miss Jayaratne told Highbury Corner magistrates’ court: “In the police station, she was interviewed and said she was sleep-walking, or sleep-driving, at the time.”

A charge of careless driving was considered but not pursued, the court heard, while an allegation of dangerous driving was dropped before the case began today.

Ms Brimelow said the defendant’s “celebrity status” and the “humiliation” that came with the subsequent publicity should be reflected in the sentence, Ms Brimelow said.

Tulisa, her lawyer said, accepted the situation was “serious” and was “remorseful”.

The star sold the car, which she had bought two months before, immediately after the crash, the court was told, and had “learnt her lesson”.

The singer broke down in tears when asked to state her address for the court after her lawyer had failed in bid to have it blocked.

Tulisa, of Enfield, north London, was banned from the road for 15 months and ordered to pay £1,185 in fines and court costs.

She was offered a course that would reduce the length of her ban by 15 weeks.